Le Bouquet Garni in Village-Neuf, France

Melanie and I had to go to Basel on business today, so we decided to hop the border to France and have lunch at A L’Aigle in Village Neuf where we had had a fantastic dinner back in May.

Unfortunately, the restaurant was closed, but the restaurant “Le Bouquet Garni”, located right across the street, was open and it looked charming, so we decided to give it a try.

Lucky decision for us! The restaurant is as charming on the inside as it looks from the street. Although the decore is out-dated and well-used, we found it a delightful change from those “not-a-hair-out-of-place” restaurants we usually encounter in Switzerland.

When we arrived at 12:15 the restaurant was about 1/3 full. By the time we had our apero, there wasn’t a seat left in the house. Everything, from our aperos to our desserts, was hand-made and executed with a high attention to detail.

Here are some of the highlights: (click on any of the pictures to enlarge)

Above: a slice of foie gras with a salad of endive and sprouts with a fig and nut compote and orange peal marmalade.

Above: Escalopes of pan-seared foie gras de canard served over a tartelette tatin of apples.

Above: a feuillete of wild champignons.

Everything was just perfect, including our 22 Euro bottle of Saint Chinian.

For all of you frugal gourmets, the lunch menu will be irrestible! For an amazing 10.50 Euros you get:

• A lovely pumpkin soup with smoked bacon lardons…
• A very delicious (but slightly plain looking) plate of incredibly tender pork ragu and spiral noodles…
• And a delicious, home-made, apple strudel.

Here is our bill. Click on it to enlarge.

We have programmed the address into our GPS and we will return soon!

Le Bouquet Garni
94, rue du Général De Gaulle
F-68128 Village-Neuf
France - Alsace
Tél +33 (0)3 89 69 88 05
email contact@bouquetgarni.fr

Open for lunch from 11h30 to 14h, dinner from 18h30 to 21h30
Closed Sunday evening and Monday. Call for reservations or you will get stuck in the backroom (like us), which is ok, but the main room is nicer.